Step 5: Building the Rotating Printing Press (Part A):

Step 6: Building the Rotating Printing Press (Part B):

Step 14: Now that youve secured the brackets (H), you can use them to hold each arm (T) in place while you do the next step. On each arm, draw a line...

***12-31-09 NOTE: A few steps have changed on printingplans.com and will thus be different between here and there. For instance, the manufacturer of the Lazy Susans has changed their size, so the plans have been adjusted accordingly. At this point the plans have NOT been adjusted here.***

Due to the high cost of Four Color Printing Presses (for screen printed T-shirts), I decided if I wanted one of decent quality on my limited budget I'd have to make my own. But buying 4 pairs of standard clips for holding screens, or "jiffy hinges", was a big investment on its own (about $130!!!). So a friend and I created our own design and built this entire press for about the cost of those expensive hinges.

Plan on a few days to finish the press as it is very involved. It is recommended to have a second person help out as several steps could use one person holding while the other person attaches.

A few notes before the main instructions: The sturdiness and precision of the press is important for the success of multi-color images, so its important to be as accurate as possible in your measurements. It is also recommended that you use wood glue at each joint in addition to screws so that the press is as stable as possible. You may also want to predrill holes before putting in the screws to avoid splitting of the wood (use a bit thats slightly smaller than the screw). This table is designed for a six foot tall person. To alter it for someone of a different height, adjust parts N and O accordingly.

This plan is awesome. I plan on attempting to build this, but had one question. I have noticed that the screen sizes used are 20 x 24. I have some custom screens and the largest size I have is 23 x 28. I was wondering what steps would I need to take in order for the screens to not collide into each other when all are in the upright position.

Hi Brandon, sorry for the late reply. You can use large screens as is, but only two at a time and across from each other. To modify it to work with 3 or 4 larger screens you'd have to at least make the rotating top larger but probably make the whole thing wider and deeper as well. I haven't done it so this is just off of the top of my head.

hi frns i'm amit i'm an animator artist from India im really interested in screen printing ...i want to make this 4 color printing press at home can any one plz let me know what is the name of Tools to make it rotating..... and what wood i can yous for it .....plz help ...me frns

Hallo, Thank you for taking the time to put this into plans ( Must say working in the metric system it was no easy task finding some of the things and making it work ). I have now finished most of the plan. I just want to find out from you about the screen's themselfs. Are those custom build too ? Where can I find those measurements. Also just one thing regarding the Heating and printing. Do I screen my first color then remove the shirt and dry, or do I screen all the colors before I have to place the shirt in the oven for 1 min at 320 degree's ? Is there a way to build your own flash dryer ? Thank you.

Hello! Well done- the press looks great! Sorry about the lack of metric measurements. I don't personally build my own screens as the slight amount of money saved is not worth the amount of time it takes. If you are printing multiple colors, you can't remove the shirt in between colors or you'll never get it realigned. Sometimes you don't even have to heat the ink in between colors. This is called "wet on wet" printing. Whether you can do this really depends on the design, so just use some old shirts for testing first. You can use a heat gun (like the kind to strip paint) to bring your ink to 180 degrees if you do need to dry the ink in between. 180 degrees is dry to the touch and is called a "soft cure". It can be printed on but will wash out if not brought to 320 degrees later. Also try and get a hold of a laser thermometer to make sure you are getting up to the desired temperature both for the soft curing and final curing. As for making your own flash dryer, my friend built one but didn't write down how. It's not easy!

Hello there. As I haven't done this personally, I can't give a lot of tips, but I know that several people have. It can be done, it just takes a little more forethought, work, and several extra parts. Good luck!

If I wanted to make this a one arm press, could I replace piece F and the Lazy Susan with an extension of piece U going into the centre. Am I right in thinking that this would still ensure that piece B is the same height as piece I? I ask this because after looking around at screen printing press designs, yours seems to be the most thought out and most robust. However I only need to print the one colour. Thanks

Well, it's possible. Some people have built their own versions with 4 colors and 4 stations. There would be a number of modifications to do, but I think it could be done. It would be a whole lot bigger, so get ready to expand the footprint by quite a bit so it's still sturdy. Good luck!

Hey I've built the four color press, but I'm having an issue getting the tension on the springs right. I haven't been able to get them set to hold down with a screen on without some sort of clamp to keep it in place. I'd like to fix this because it renders the springs useless using a clamping mechanism to keep the screen down. Thanks and I really appreciate you posting the plans it was a lot of fun :D

So it doesn't stay down even with a screen in it? Can you loosen the turnbuckles a bit and still have the screen stay in the upright position? Springs with too much tension can cause the same problem. Are you're two guides (that hold the screen arm in position) tight enough? Another thing to check is if your small lag eye screws are twisted in enough. If they're too high then they'll pull the screen up too much. Let me know what you've tried and I can try to think of anything else. Thanks!

Thank you so much! I can't ship the full kit out of the country because it would cost around $350 for shipping alone, but I can ship all the hardware and then you can just find the lumber locally. You can see the costs here: http://www.printingplans.com/hardware.html

Hello- yes, you can order the parts directly from www.printingplans.com to the Rep. of Ireland. You'll see a link on the right side of the page, or here's the direct link: http://www.printingplans.com/hardware.html

You could, but I wouldn't recommend it. Mostly because you'd be doing a lot more than necessary. For instance, there'd be no reason to have the rotating top if you only have one arm. There are some plans for 1-color presses readily available on the net if you do a quick search.

Hey there , no I do not have the proper stretching equipment , as far as I know I would jut stretch it myself. I have bought mesh fabric from Hobby Lobby , what do you use and any advice on actually building the frames? Thanks

I haven't build any frames of my own so I can't give much advice. You may have some trouble getting the mesh tight enough and therefore have registration problems. However, if you are able to make a semi-deep groove in the center of the wood all along the back side of your screens, you can then use rope to push the screen into those grooves, and in so doing get a pretty tight screen.